Why Rodney Mullen Is The Greatest Athlete of All Time 

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As a skateboarder let me tell you: This man created basically everything we do. I can’t think of a single other sport or activity like that. He needs more credit tbh.

I'm a simple man. I see Rodney Mullen's name and I click

Bro did a nollie three shuv late flip on flat in '92. That is unreal.

Let's not forget Rodney helped design the modern "popsicle" skateboard shape! ;-)

"Dont let anyone poison your individuality. Be the way, break away. Look in not out" Rodney Mullen-

You forgot the most important point of skateboard history, the urethane wheel. 1972 Cadillac Wheels

i dont care if you're a big time youtuber or not, i see rodney mullen's name i click it, i watch it, im happy, everyones happy.

rodney mullen may not have invented skateboarding but he sure as hell made it what it is today

"saved to watch later" Thank you for being my bedtime story later

He is more of an artist than an athlete in my book. Sports have constraints, skating is total freedom - pure art.

I think the fact that no one has a bad story about Rodney, on top of everything else about Rodney is what really elevates his status. He is a loner by nature so he skates at 2-4am when no one can watch him. I've seen videos of him at a random park tho and little kids were running up to him for trick tips. Rodney never would turn down offering someone help. What did Michael, Gretzky, Brady, Ali, etc have in common? They all had that play to win, at all costs, mentality. I think Rodney has that drive too, but also Rodney isn't trying to "gatekeep" anything. He isn't trying to squash his competition. He's trying to make his competition better so he has better people to compete with. Rodney could have completely isolated himself. Stayed an introvert his whole life. Guarded his secrets with the board. But he actively teaches anyone willing to learn and I think that alone is what makes Rodney so special.

I think that this is true, but it’s important to note there are NO rules to skateboarding. Traditional sports have a set of rules and a “winner” Skateboarding is more of an art, as well as a sport.

Travis Pastrana NEEDS to be in the discussion. He reinvented not 1, but 2 sports. FMX, and rallycross are completely different because of TP

I do agree that the number of contributions that Mullen gave to the world of skateboarding makes him probably the most influential in his particular sport, one of my favourite Wayne Gretzky facts is: Wayne and Brent Gretzky hold the NHL record for most combined points by two brothers - 2,857 for Wayne and 4 for Brent.

Dude. Only 6 minutes in so far but very impressed

Well I was born in 72 so the 80s and 90s were you know my Elementary and high school years Rodney Mullen was just a freak. He probably did more for Street skating did anyone else on the planet. He was doing stuff that was so nuts that all of the ramp guys would come over and watch him do his thing. I would definitely say that keep probably fall somewhere on that Spectrum level of genius and OCD. That's how committed he was to what he was doing. Even today he's probably still crushing anyone in a game of SKATE. RLTW 3/75

I'm a skater and people ALWAYS yell out "do a kickflip!" But when I'm at the courts playing basketball with my friends no strangers ever yell out asking us to dunk from the free throw line 😂

He was world champion for a very long time as well in freestyle, so he has the "championship credentials" that most would consider a deciding factor in the GOAT conversation. He dominated freestyle, and paved the path for street skating unknowingly, then transitioned into it and did it in a way that almost no one else was doing. Easily the most innovative athlete I've seen since Rene Lacoste in tennis who helped change the wardrobe of tennis to polo's for the first time, led the change from wooden to modern rackets, innovations and improvements to ball machines, etc.

I'd say dribbling a basketball is akin to riding a board, so a more apt comparison would be if Jordan invented the dunk or dribble in-between your legs. It's also not really fair since basketball had been around for decades and skateboarding just started. That said, Rodney Mullen saved my teenage years. As someone on the spectrum, I really identified with the guy, and my skateboard was an invaluable tool to navigate through social anxiety and be able to make friends.

People miss the actual point to your video - most overall impact on a sport - from tricks , to business , to hardware dynamics… every little detail and the business end as well Great video mate regardless of the negative people

That 1978 picture of Mullen and Caballero is legendary. Baby cab haha

I agree with this video before watching it

There were many players that revolutionized their respective sports, but only Rodney directly impacted the very framework in which it was done. I think the few that come close outside of action sports are Roger Federer and Tiger Woods, who were x-factor players that elevated the level of play for tennis and golf. They helped raise the bar with inventing new shots, unprecedented conditioning, and strategies that did force their respective tours to elevate their game, the way equipment was produced, and in Tiger’s case, the way golf courses were laid out.

Mullen certainly deserves the GOAT as the most influential, innovative athlete in sport's history. The greatest athletic accomplishment, surely, is Alex Honnold free soloing El Cap. An athletic endeavor lasting nearly four hours that involved balance, strength, endurance, courage and a lifetime of expertise. And whose consequences for a single mistake: death.

Great video Riggs looking forward to more.

From the early 90s to the early 2ks I used to skate at the Ibirapuera park (in São Paulo-Brazil) and there were some older dudes that practiced the (what was conceived of, at the time) "old art" of freestyle skateboarding... I learnt a lot from those guys... good times =D... And then Rodney Mullen was not much known from outside people that skated freestyle, but he was always like "the secret character" (in that time there the internet was in its infancy, so, especially in the 3rd world, only the most hardcore skateboarding people would buy some skate magazine VHS tapes and stuff like that...and even then people were more interested in the "street style" or "skate rapper" kind of thing...) haha.. the right thing for a game would be to have Rodney Mullen as a secret character that the player would have to perform some cryptic behavior at the game in order to unlock him for 1 play (1 one level, etc... of the game...) and he would just never miss any tricks, would be like an 'Akuma' in the game and all, and when the map (stage) is finished it would pop up a message (like those old street fighter 2) like "I trained those tricks decades ago, at 3am." hehe... I would say much more, but perhaps in another video =D..

At the start I was like maybe some over-hype, but after watching it I agree. Im a skater and I know what he's done fore us but by framing it as overall impact makes it clear. Well done, great vid!

I think my fav Rodney Mullen story is when Jason Lee thought he landed the first tre flip and someone was like hate to break it to you but Mullen landed in a video part months ago. Great video but would have like to see more about his flatland dominance in the early days (I think that was when he went 34/36) and how he was more focused and worked harder than any other skater. He would go to a concrete slab and practice for 12+ hours every single day. I know I messaged you about this on fb already but I def think Mat Hoffman is the GOAT of BMX. The amount of tricks he invented, his influence on the mega ramp, the abuse he put his body through. Plus he got his highest air Guinness record robbed by Dave Mirra. And like Mullen he was a super sweet guy and just a genuinely good human

Incredible talent, creativity, skill and heart. To me part of what elevates him to legendary status is is obvious kindness and humility. I could not agree more with your posit. he is the greatest there ever was. inspirational

Otto Grahm, Jim Brown, Bo Jackson, Dion Sanders. Ty Cobb, Pete Rose, Kobie Bryant, Wilt Chamberllain, Greg Louganis, Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, Lawerence Taylor......... We should have them all settle this with a DANCE OFF.

A cricketer from Australia in the 1930's named Don Bradman was so dominant in his era that he is still regarded as the greatest batsmen to have played, his career average of 99.94 is still the highest with the next best being 61, the influence of Mullen on skating is profound you would have to invent the sport to be as impactful as he is, but the Don dominated his sport far more than Pele, Jordan, Ali or any of the other athletes . Great Video thanks and Take care

For thought. Wilt Chamberlain changed the rules and physical dimensions. Bradbury Robinson completed the first forward pass in a football game. Dick Fosbury performed the first Fosbury Flop. Simone Biles invented tricks they would not change the rules for. Babe Ruth was a switch hitter, pitched, and pretty much ushered in the liveball era. Jack Niclaus's style of golf and skills lead to changes in course design and tournament rules. Ditto Tiger Woods. Secretariat and Seabiscuit?

I think Deion should be in consideration for the GOAT overall athlete but you can't deny that Rodney had the biggest singular impact on his domain.

most innovative and creative ever that is for sure

fantastic video! I offer for your consideration, Jim Thorpe, the finest multi-sport athlete in modern history.

Rodney Mullen:Skateboarding = Yoda:The Force

Very interesting topic! I ve got to admit, his contribution for the sport is outstanding... So many tricks, that even to this day, is very hard to replicate. Absolute legend! Now, if you ask me who is the GOAT in competitive sports, I am going to say Kelly Slater, who coincidentally retired yesterday at the young age of 52! Eleven world titles in a demanding physical sport, competing with guys in their 20's. Absolutely unreal. Thanks for entertaining us all those years Kelly!

Ive said this for a long time. He has the wins, the dominance, the impact and the records.

Verry nice video dude, thank you for your hard work.

Imagine a decent street skateboarder being blown away & loving Mullen's part in "Questionable" after seeing it on VHS in 1993. This was a couple of years after coming back to skating after rarely doing it for a few years largely because a 13 or so year old kid named Muska from his neighborhood progressed so rapidly & did so much better than him at the only in-person skate contest he ever entered. It made him feel down because he wanted to impress a young woman working the contest. He got back into it by making skater friends at his university, but he injured his knee on a bad 360-flip landing in 1994 and almost completely stopped skating. Now he's been back into it for a few years & it's wild to see how things turned out for skateboarding. Missed Muska's career almost entirely by no longer following skating those years. I agree that Mullen is #1.

Great video. You convinced me.

I really enjoyed the presentation of this whole piece. And your delivery js really well done. But as a note, I found this music really distracting. It's too simple, repetitive, and high in your mix.

What Rodney Mulles did for skateboarding is more complexed compared to what Messi did for soccer. We need to pay Rodney. He is the soul of our Skateboarding.

You can argue pretty easily that Michael Jordan was the catalyst for every major change that happened after him. Michael Jordan might not have invented dribling, but he's single handedly revolutionized the shooting guard position and, in turn, changed roster construction in a way that has affected everything since. I think that's even more fundamental than dribbling. Everyone at every position now plays like a shooting guard because of him. The rules have changed to favor offense because players kept beating the shit out of him because they couldn't stop him any other way. One of the greatest players of all time literally studied under him. I can go on and on. Him being respectful to the prior generation doesn't mean anything.

Brady has to be #1, but Mullen #2 100%. In my humble opinion. Rodney Mullen vs Dawson Song was played and rewound 10,000 times in my youth, definitely my favorite athlete for sure.

goated take

@14:41 I'm really into football (soccer) and think skateboarding is a good comparison. Best player to compare to Mullen IMO is Johann Cruyff. Both have originality, genius and are elegant to watch. The Cruyff turn is kinda foundational now, like an Ollie of kickflip..

Good analysis. I get what you mean when you say that the others were great individual talents but never really contributed much to the sport itself. I remember Rodney saying in an interview one time that he never wanted to be some celebrity skateboarder who won all these trophies and was driven by money/fame. His real trophy is seeing skateboarders everywhere doing HIS tricks that HE invented since it all started. You really can't beat that tbh.

Fascinating video, and I love the execution and the idea for the video… However, I think it’s very unfair to compare solo sports to team sports Team sports require more regulation, more institutionalized, rulemaking, and it’s much harder for players to innovate within those confines. I think Rodney definitely is one of the most incredible athletes on the face of the planet for sure. I personally think this video would be more fair and a more accurate hypothesis to defend would be something like : “the greatest solo athlete of all time”… and Compared him to other athletes in a sports such as surfing, gymnastics, rock, climbing, BMX biking, etc.… Still a great video, and it is always a treat watching Rodney Mullins do his thing. back in the 80s He was better than most modern skaters will ever be. A GOAT in many respects.

Dang this is some good production value 👑

This is a great video man 😃 I’m genuinely staggered that you don’t even have 1k subs! 🤯 I’ve totally subbed and would love to see a Tony Hawk retrospective as well as you mentioned in the vid. Really great content man 👊🏻

My favourite skater.

Another argument that I bring up is skateboarding being the hardest thing you can learn as a ‘sport’… you aren’t strapped in, nothing to hold onto, you’re relying on eye to foot coordination and reaction time as opposed to just eye hand coordination. All while balancing on three axis while moving and jumping (like standing on a ball while moving). The amount of brain power that takes is a lot. Snowboarding you don’t have to worry about foot placement, bmx you have handle bars and pedals to set place. Basketball you hold with walking and running being basic human skills really. Hockey is eye hand coordination and strapped onto skates. Aside from surfing, in skateboarding you’re relying on full balance, foot placements, reaction times, as well as jump and landing on objects where surface area is just millimeter’s of contact. So for someone to be great at skateboarding it’s really something else. Let alone 10 years of being the literal best at it, all while inventing the tricks themselves and changing what a physical skateboard is so he can improve and invent more tricks ie popsicle decks, and concave. On top of ALL of that, we’re eating shit on concrete, and trying again right after.

got my sub on this one,great stuff

Amazing content as always

I started skating because I got a Tony hawk board 3 years ago, today I skate almost and tensors lo , I like mullen and Daewon styles I even came up with a silly trick from practicing they're styles ( Andy Anderson too)

You speak to truth. Great video.

Shaun Palmer is the greatest athlete of all time. snowboarder,skier,elite Downhill MTB and duel slalom MTB and motocross.

Some sports should be renamed. Let's grab our Gretzky sticks, Mullen boards, Tiger clubs and Ali gloves.The goal line was moved back because of Gretzky. Mullen invented almost every trick all skaters use. The courses were made longer because of Tiger. Every professional athlete changed the way they dealt with the media because of Ali. Great vid! Stay Happy and Healthy

Cristano Ronaldo did not impact soccer that much my guy, Ronaldinho did. He created a version of highly skilled and flashy dribbling to get around defenders, as opposed to the technical, make a quick move, such as a feint, and change of pace to get past defenders. He also stamped the use of sombrero flicks, which many other Brazilians since has made use of, such as Neymar. This style of play didn’t require high levels of speed to beat defenders, but more skill than usual, and guys like Cristano and Neymar and more can be seen using the style today. Guys like Neymar, who can beat defenders with speed as well, use it to increase the chances of beating the defenders.

Kelly slater has one of the longest relevant pro careers of any athlete ever. 11 world titles and a 3 decade pro career on the world tour. Unheard of and his records wont get touched. The sheer will to win at any cost is what separates people like Jordan or Kelly from the pack of other talented pros. I know Rodney is a tech savant and invented so much in skateboarding, but skateboarding is also younger than any other sport. His timing is was necessary for him to be the one to figure stuff out and certainly he was a special talent. But someone like Jordan or Kelly or Kobe would be a titan of victory in their time, no matter when it was. Rodney is a genius, a special genius, but given a different timeline I don’t think he would still have been able to invent all those tricks and some one else would have eventually done an Ollie or a kick flip or any of the other progressions he made made. Maybe it wouldn’t have all been one guy and maybe it would have taken longer, but I think skateboarding progression was inevitable and if not Rodney then some one younger with special feet and a special brain may have taken his spot. The stars certainly aligned for rodeny.

Messi is so clear of Ronaldo it isn't even funny. That being said, Messi and Rodney are both the GOATS. Crazy seeing them mentioned in the same video.

Sports have rules and are meant to be followed (so an athlete can't change the game). Skateboarding is not a sport (when it started) in that regard but an artform, a way to express yourself and therefore does not have rules. Rodney is an artist and like all skaters, poets in motion. So if you look from this standpoint, you can't really compare Rodney or skateboarding with any other athlete or sport. This is just what I personally think.

Serge Bubka is the best pole vaulter of all time. He had crazy athleticism and changed the form entirely while breaking every record.

agreed. only other athlete i can think of who comes even remotely close would be royce gracie of mma fame.

Your editing is funny. Thx for the history

Kelly Slater, George Best,Hurricane Higgins,etc etc

thank you, this was cool! =) I dunno, to me freestyle skating looks pretty weird (started skating after THSB or THPS2 came out), but if Rodney does it, it becomes magical!

He IS and will be the GOAT in Skateboarding; He pushed the sport for lightyears.

It’s difficult to compare team sports with stricter rules to individual sports with relatively open interpretation of rules. Call me a Messi fanboy but I think players like him and Gretzky are still in the running when you consider how an opposing player/team must reconsider their understanding of the game entirely in order to negate the influence of that player.

I agree with your opinions on rodney there is one person who actually fundamentally changed a major sport steph Kerry he totally changed basketball but he can not be considered the greatest ever

Rodney Mullen would be the goat already if he *only* invented the Ollie, but the list of tricks he invented is practically endless.

I always think of it this way. Being the fastest race car driver in the world is impressive. Now imagine that driver also designed the car, invented the internal combustion engine, and came up with the concept of racing. That is Rodney Mullen. He created and mastered an entire art form on his own.

The pronunciation of Encinitas killed me lol

Rodney Mullen is the Charlie Parker of skateboarding

Actual, factual, and accurate. Great vid

Just like Rodney get’s overlooked in the GOAT debates, the sport that is the reason Skateboarding exists, surfing has another GOAT candidate, Kelly Slater. He is doing his final surfing tour this year at 51. He is both the youngest and oldest person to win a world title of which he has won 11. Almost all of modern progressive surfing started with him.

My vote is for Kelly Slater

awsome breakdown! I try to teach the new kids in skateboarding the importance Rodney had in the skateboarding they do today. Especially now all the styles are mixed, from bowl to freestyle. Just look at Andy Anderson. Had the upportunity to meet Rodney once, and he left another kind of impact on me. While at a demo in Amsterdam he took the time, about 5 minutes, in his busy day to talk to me about setting up a board company and gave me solid tips and just a great chat. All meanwhile 100+ kids were asking for his autograph. Just an awesome person.

He's a Genius. No debate on that.

20/20 did a show on Allen Francis the most decorated athlete EVER

Walter Lindum, so good at billiards the rules were changed, he gave his opponents a head start and was so dominant he killed the game

I think most impactful athlete would hold a stronger argument than just generally the greatest. mostly because, while watching, steph curry kept popping into my head. he came in, completely flipped the league on its head with 3 pointers, and it’s clear the shift the league has taken since with traditional big men and layup/midrange offense becoming pretty obsolete. all that to say, steph curry isn’t even the greatest in his own sport but the impact can’t be denied

You’re comparing a “sport” that has no rules to sports that are bound to their rules

Idk who you would have used for baseball, but without doubt it should be Ty Cobb. He played in the dead ball era and was among the top HR hitters from his era. He would have hit a ton of homers in Ruth’s era. His legacy was tarnished by a spiteful writer named Al Stump who fabricated stories about Cobb after his death. He seems very similar to Rodney in the aspect that he was head and shoulder better than everyone around him at the time and set the bar so high in their respective sport that it’s unlikely we see it ever replicated. I think you could make a similar argument for Wilt. But he doesn’t have the Wins.

I admit that Rodney probably is the GOAT. However, I think that Chris Sharma should be in contention. Rock climbing is both physically, and mentally extreme and to develop the sport in terms of creating climbs, opening access to new climbing areas and bringing attention to, and being an ambassador for the sport in general, while consistently pushing the difficulty to a new level every year for nearly two decades is something special.

Tough to argue with this. I don't know of any athlete who has singlehandedly impacted their sport more. Golf certainly changed after Tiger woods (more emphasis on long-range driving), basketball has been changed by Steph Curry (3s all day), but nothing to the extent of Rodney's influence.

FANTASTIC video.. my only wish is that Ricky Carmichael and Kelly Slater had made the honorable mentions.

better sound mixing next time, but good video

Rodney Mullets foundational developments have branched into other sports. Ex. Surfing has a Kickflip now. G.O.A.T is an understatement.

Kelly Slater and surfing is definitely in the discussion

he invented the mctwist unbelievable

I agree with the conclusion in this.

He´s like the One that was send Here to help Us see and understand World differently.. :)

Rodney Mullen is one of my heroes

the greatest living athlete was already decided back in June of 2023

nothing worst to skateboarding than beginners circlejerking about rodney. Dont get me wrong he is great , but he only invented flatground flip tricks , every other street milestone such as grind , slides , wall rides , who were all adapted from vert ( which rodney had no skills in ) were develloped and pushed by someone else. Some comment down there talks about tricks he did in 92 , but in 92 litteraly everybody was inventing flatground weird tricks Rodney IS incredible but natas, gonz , tony and many many others did as much as him in skateboarding

GSP looking very Silva like.

I loved your video, and TOTALLY agree. There is no athlete like Rodney Please make the THPS video you mentioned, maybe a video about Tony as well? i know he is not the goat but i believe he deserves, he really is THE other godfather of skateboard, i am sure you get what i say, he is even bff with the actual goat, and i am quite sure both them influenced each other a lot, it is possible that without tony's (and other legends) friendship Rodney would not be as great :) Thanks for this video, Rodney is made different as you mentioned But do you know about his advendures on other areas, he is an actual genius with success in different industries as entrepeneur, also great motivator and philosopher, he got some mystic conection to a primordial source knowledge and wisdom, which also allowed he heal himself when no doctor believed he would skate again, he also has the sweetest speeches that reaches that works like magic spells and heals the souls Wow, eveytime i reason about his gifts i there is something strange on how he stacks so many good traits, i believe he and some others are some sort of avatar that paves our way to the next level OK, i know it is enough talking